Delta Industrial 46-460 12-1/2-inch Variable-Speed MIDI Lathe, Gray

This is my 5th lathe. I have owned a 70's Delta, 2000's Nova Comet II, 50's Craftsman, and 20's Goodell Pratt. The Nova Comet II is the most similar to this one but the Delta Midi is a huge step up in quality: it's heavier, belt changes are easier, quieter, has WAY more power, and overall the design and fit and finish are far superior to any previous lathe I've owned. Mine did come with the forward/reverse switch wired backward but I expected it based on other reviews and it takes about 5 minutes to fix. You remove a couple screws, switch 2 wires around and it works like it should. So far I am very happy with this one and sold my other lathes. Update, been about 23 months and still loving this lathe. A few people have asked about my more power comment since the Comet II has 3/4 HP and the Delta 1 HP. My Comet would stall if I aggressively removed stock or got a catch. The Delta never stalls and rarely slows down. My Craftsman had a 1 HP DC treadmill motor that had more power than the Comet II but less than the Delta. It could be a difference in the DC controllers, or could be that Delta uses a higher quality motor, or maybe both. Say what you want about Delta (I know some people like to bash them) but they have a reputation for using high quality, powerful, motors.

I purchased this after reading Fine Woodworking's Midi Lathe Tool Test from Andrew Finnigan. This Delta lathe and a comparable Rikon model were both rated Author's Choice in the under $1300 category. It is a lot of fun to use, seems heavy, well designed. It is very quiet while running, with a pleasant hum from the motor, and the variable speed adjustments are smooth. Seems like a good value for a heavy duty tool. Mine arrived with the FWD/REV switch wired backwards. In order to fix this, you need to locate the logic board and swap the M+/M- wires circled in yellow in my attached photo. The fix was simple enough, and I was expecting this issue after reading that other reviews have had the same issue, so I don't think it is worth downgrading from 5 stars for this minor issue.

I am a military member who has been waiting for this product to become available again for months. I pre-ordered it and was about to give up and buy it in the states when I received an email that it was being shipped while I was in Quebec on pre-deployment training for Afghanistan. I finally got back home and went to the states to pick up the 46-462 lathe stand and immediately put them both together this weekend. My father pointed out that the controller box (part #DPEC000471) was cracked exposing some wires inside, took a photo. The box was in good shape and the lathe was wrapped in packing plastic and secured in manufacturers custom polystyrene. It went from the box to the stand with no opportunity to be damaged on this end and the shipping is unlikely a problem either. I do not believe this will compromise its function, it seems to run smooth, but I will likely have to seal the controller box to prevent dust/debris from getting inside (another job for duct tape or equivalent). I may contact delta to order a replacement part; however, in order to replace it I believe i have to disconnect some of the wiring in order to remove the box... I am not interested in messing with that. Just my luck one of the couple plastic parts on my unit is busted.... I highly recommend potential buyers to buy the optional chuck 46-461. The spur center the lathe comes with is rudimentary at best.

This is a late review that I am writing because I have seen quite a few people reporting bad customer service and I want to share my experience in that area. I couldnt ask for better customer service than what Delta gave to me. I bought this lathe 10 months ago and I loved it. Then, a problem occurred where the motor stopped running. I communicated with Delta and after several emails back and forth, they called me and said that a brand new lathe would be shipped to me. They did so and I am very pleased with Delta as a company. I I have been turning for many years using a few different wood lathes. They got the job done, but lacked many nice features and ease of use. I researched available lathes on the market very thoroughly, and could not find a single reason why this Delta 46-460 didn't blow the others out of the water, but I admit JET was a close second. But I finally settled on this one am I glad I did. It does everything that a mid-size lathe should do and it does it well, easily, and elegantly. It was clearly designed by people who know wood turning. It is designed perfectly, and made with outstanding quality. I am one happy customer.

The first one I ordered arrived with the same trouble that apparently a lot of people have had. The variable speed did not work. It would come on barely, run a second, then if you slightly turned the knob cut out, etc...I called Delta and they said it was a bad control panel, and I could either take it to a service shop or return it where I bought it. Now, since I bought it form Amazon, they picked it up the next day, shipped me a new one immediately, and refunded my one day shipping fees. I thought that was AWESOME. It was the best experience I have ever had returning something. My new one seems to work fine, and I like it so far very much. But if I were someone looking to buy one of these new, I would absolutely make sure I bought it from someplace like Amazon where a return would be no fuss, since i am by no means the only person to have had trouble with a bad control panel or whatever causes these issues. The other thing that really surprised me was that when reading reviews, a lot of people said that the reverse/forward function on their lathe was backwards. So you place it in reverse to actually run it forward. This is not a big deal at all, but that seems like something that would have been addressed. However, I have the exact same issue, on both the one I sent back and the new one. I believe this (10/21/2016) is a few years after some of these people wrote about that problem. TLDR It seems like a great lathe, but I would not buy one from any place that I could not immediately return it, or try the one I buy. And honestly, I'm not positive I'll buy Delta stuff in the future. Those little things are just a little scary of what else is going on.